The authorities of Mahatma Gandhi’s Sevagram ashram in Maharashtra’s Wardha have refused to grant permission to the Congress to hold a programme there on October 2 on the ground that political activities are not allowed on the premises.

A senior Congress leader from Maharashtra told The Telegraph on phone from Nagpur: “Sevagram conducts their own programme on Gandhi Jayanti and anybody can participate in that, but they said a political programme would not be allowed. We tried to convince them, but they didn’t yield. We are now looking for an alternative venue nearby.”

Party leaders will visit Sevagram and pay homage to Gandhi, but the meeting of the Congress Working Committee will not be held there. Congress leaders didn’t want a confrontation as neither the state nor the central government was involved in the decision to refuse permission.

Some Congress leaders, however, said in private that the trust that runs Sevagram might have acted under pressure from the government.